Industrial and consumer applications commonly use fossil fuels to create energy. Fossil fuel derived gases can be referred to as natural gas, which comprises a gas consisting primarily of methane. It is found associated with fossil fuels, in coal beds, as methane clathrates, and is created by methanogenic organisms in marshes, bogs, and landfills. It is an important fuel source, a major feedstock for fertilizers, and a potent greenhouse gas.
Natural gas is a major source of electricity generation through the use of gas turbines and steam turbines. Most grid peaking power plants and some off-grid engine-generators use natural gas. Particularly high efficiencies can be achieved through combining gas turbines with a steam turbine in combined cycle mode. Natural gas burns more cleanly than other fossil fuels, such as oil and coal, and produces less carbon dioxide per unit energy released. For an equivalent amount of heat, burning natural gas produces about 30% less carbon dioxide than burning petroleum and about 45% less than burning coal. Combined cycle power generation using natural gas is thus the cleanest source of power available using fossil fuels, and this technology is widely used wherever gas can be obtained at a reasonable cost.
At the current state of the technology, natural gas is transferred to its final destination of use in gas form by means of pipes or pressure resistant tankers or in liquid form again in pressure resistant tankers. Gases that are transferred under high pressure by means of pipes or tankers from their production points are reduced in pressure at pressure reducing stations and then delivered to the end user. Valves and security equipment are used in order to ensure the security of the stations and impede the back charge of the gas.
Extraction, production and transportation from long distances by means of pipes or pressure resistant tankers are a costly process. In many systems, the gas delivered to the end user by pipes enters into the combustion chamber at the delivery temperature, which can vary according to geography, season, transfer method and storage location.
The present invention provides fuel savings and enhanced efficiency of many kinds of combustible fuels, including without limitation natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), Liquefied natural gas (LNG), compressed natural gas (CNG), cold compressed natural gas (CCNG), etc. Fuel consumption can be reduced by 5% to 40% or more by pre-combustion heating of the fuels.